Oakland's Fentons Creamery in Pixar film 'Up'

PIXAR'S 'UP'

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday May 23, 2009. The historic ice cream parlor and restaurant figures prominently into the new Pixar animated feature, "Up"

Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday May 23, 2009. The historic ice cream parlor and restaurant figures prominently into the new Pixar animated feature, "Up"

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., packed with customers during the lunch service on Saturday May 23, 2009. The historic ice cream parlor and restaurant figures prominently into the new Pixar animated feature, "Up" less

Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., packed with customers during the lunch service on Saturday May 23, 2009. The historic ice cream parlor and restaurant figures prominently into the new ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Image 3 of 3

Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday May 23, 2009. The historic ice cream parlor and restaurant figures prominently into the new Pixar animated feature, "Up"

Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday May 23, 2009. The historic ice cream parlor and restaurant figures prominently into the new Pixar animated feature, "Up"

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Oakland's Fentons Creamery in Pixar film 'Up'

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The latest "Night at the Museum" movie has an advertisement for the Smithsonian Institution in the film's title. "Angels and Demons" places Tom Hanks behind the wheel of a new Fiat. Capt. Kirk from "Star Trek" uses his Nokia phone while speeding down a 23rd century road, and drinks Jack Daniels at the local bar.

The product placement included within "Up" has a more local flavor.

Oakland residents will do a double take when they see that Fentons Creamery - the 114-year-old ice cream parlor and restaurant - not only gets name-dropped by the Pixar movie's over-eager Wilderness Explorer character Russell, but later figures into the plot.

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Fentons doesn't have a public relations staff, and only recently opened a second location in Vacaville. But it still received a cameo in one of the most anticipated family films of the year.

"Up" director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera live in Oakland and have young children they take to Fentons. The Piedmont Avenue eatery is also a favorite stop for Pixar employees who are celebrating completed deadlines and other events.

"We thought it was fun. We got applause when we showed that at the wrap party, because so many people go over and eat at Fentons," Rivera says, during an interview at Pixar. "We wanted something specific that sounded authentic. If you live here you'll get it, but it sounds like a real enough place that broader audiences will understand what this kid is talking about."

Scott Whidden, a third-generation Oaklander who has owned Fentons for more than 20 years, is still processing the news. In some ways Pixar's use of Fentons is surprising, and in other ways it makes perfect sense.

"They're a neighbor of ours in Emeryville, we're serving them and they are guests. There was a relationship, so there's something natural about it," Whidden says. "On a more national level, it's a bit of a shock. You read Time magazine and see 'Up' featured, and you look at Pixar as one of the most successful movie companies out there. You just have to pause."

Disney has no qualms about including product tie-ins surrounding Pixar movies. (Chances are good that you're already sick of the Aflac insurance "Up" spots.) But the movies themselves tend to focus on fictitious places, such as Harryhausen's restaurant in Docter's "Monster's Inc.," a tribute to stop-motion animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen.

When Bay Area landmarks and geography do show up - port cranes like the ones in Oakland were visible in "WALL-E," and a chase scene for "The Incredibles" used real Emeryville streets - they mostly remain in the background. Rivera and Docter say the Victorian home in "Up," which 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen coaxes into flight with thousands of helium balloons, was inspired by a house near Sixth Street in Berkeley.

Docter said in the original script, the ice cream parlor was named after a different place on the East Coast. Later, Docter says, "we sort of rewrote the scene a little bit, and made it a local place. We wanted a place that wasn't a chain, that had a small-town feel to it."

Owned by the Fenton family from 1894 until the 1960s, Fentons hasn't changed much over the years, even after a recent remodel forced by an arson fire. Ice cream is made on site by staffers who can be seen through giant windows from the restaurant floor. Fentons is filled with kids in soccer uniforms on the weekend, and a discount is given to patrons who wear Oakland A's colors on game day.

It's hard to describe Fentons exact role in "Up" without giving minor plot points away. Russell casually mentions eating ice cream at Fentons early in the movie, while he and Fredricksen are on their cross-country aerial adventure. An accurate version of the creamery shows up briefly near the end of the film.

Whidden said he doesn't remember the exact time line, but a group of Pixar animators let him know about the use of Fentons in "Up" about the same time that he got a call from Disney's lawyers. Whidden was a longtime fan of Pixar's movies, and didn't hesitate to approve the request.

"We went to them and said, 'This is sort of like a love letter, we just want to make sure it's OK,' " Rivera says. "They said, 'Yeah, use our graphic even.' I got a free ice cream sundae out of it."

Whidden says he's expecting an excited response from his regulars once the movie comes out. But he promises that the ice cream parlor won't get star struck and break out of its 114-year-old routine.

"We're happy that someone would use Fentons to demonstrate a personal relationship - coming together over a bowl of ice cream. It's symbolic, and we try to do that over and over and over," Whidden says. "I look at this as a report card back that reinforces the importance of good relationships with all of our customers."

Fentons isn't the only Bay Area institution to get a cameo in "Up." To read about the Merritt Bakery hamburger cake and its link to the new Pixar movie, check out The Poop, The Chronicle's parenting blog, at www.sfgate.com/blogs/parenting.

Pixar's "Up" opens this Friday at Bay Area theaters.

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